Overwatch Oneshots

Reaper76: Parkinson's Disease

If a loved one or close friend, or anyone close to you in general, has Parkinson's Disease or has died of complications from it, this story may be discomforting.

Parkinson's Disease: a chronic progressive neurological disease chiefly of later life that is linked to decreased dopamine production in the substantia nigra and is marked especially by tremor of resting muscles, rigidity, slowness of movement, impaired balance, and a shuffling gait 

It was Gabe's last mission for Overwatch before he transferred to Blackwatch. He was in Dorado with a team of six to defuse a bomb set by a local gang that had been aided by world-renown hacker, Sombra. He had split up from the group and was in a gunfight with two members of the gang. One member had stark green painting on his face in the shape of a skull and another had streaks of purple paint down her arms. 

Gabe had signaled for backup on his communications device before striking the skull faced member in the right shoulder. Skull face's primary firing arm was down so he ducked back behind cover, however, the purple-armed female retaliated with throwing a tempered pulse bomb.

The bomb landed next to Gabe. He tucked and rolled away but the bomb went off earlier than a normal prototype and the knock back was much stronger. Gabe felt his body get whipped up in the fast moving wind. He stopped his motion when his back collided with a wall, his head whiplashing to do the same. 

One of Gabe's comrades found the purple-armed gang member about to finish the job on Gabe. She was quickly taken out and Gabe was taken to the base of operations in Dorado for emergency e-vac. 

Gabriel Reyes was diagnosed with a severe concussion that led to internal bleeding which sent him in a month long coma. He was honorably discharged from military service and was provided with a basic apartment in New York until he could get back on his feet. 

Gabe Reyes now stood in his apartment's kitchen, leaned against one of the granite counters and willing himself to stay awake while his morning coffee was brewing. It was near six thirty in the morning and for the past three years, Gabe had gotten up at six sharp to cook breakfast and brew morning coffee for his fiancè, Jack Morrison, soon to be Jack Reyes. The routine was tiring and stressful. He had only missed his alarm once in the past three years, yet for that entire day, he was plagued with guilt despite it not being a huge mistake.

The coffee machine dinged to let Gabe know his coffee was ready. He inserted Jack's cup into the machine and put in the order before starting on cooking eggs and pancakes. About ten minutes into the cooking, Gabe was pouring pancake mix into a steaming pan and found himself shaking quite badly, making the pancakes come out with wavy edges.

Gabe dismissed the shaking and finished up breakfast before waking Jack up with some morning kisses. He left the apartment at nine for work and continued on with his day with minimal shaking.

A month passed and Gabe found himself in the month of August. The shaking got worse to where wavy pancakes were normal and where he had to leave earlier for work because his shaking hands would disrupt his safe driving patterns. Jack noticed how Gabe would be walking around the kitchen and would suddenly hold onto the counter tops to stop himself from falling.

When five more months passed and Gabe's shaking and balance worsened, Jack took it into his own hands to set up a doctor's appointment for Gabe.

***

Gabe's doctor diagnosed him with early Parkinson's Disease due to the traumatic head injury he sustained in Overwatch, and with the rate the disease symptoms were occuring, he estimated that Gabe would live for only five more years. The news destroyed Jack, but he'd never let Gabe see it. When hearing the news, Jack kissed his fiancè and murmured, "I'll make breakfast from now on, okay?"

Despite advanced technology, there was limited options as Jack watched Gabe decay. They got married a year after the news and at that point Gabe had to use a cane to stand upright at the altar. Their honeymoon was to Canada to see Niagara Falls and to Vermont for some tourist attractions. 

Each year, Gabe deteriorated even more. The second year his walk consisted of a bent back and messy writing. The third year came with mental processes slowing down. It would sometimes take Gabe a minute to answer a simple question like, How's your day been?. Dementia and sleeping problems finally set in during the fourth year. More than four times a month, Jack would wake Gabe up for breakfast and have to explain what his life was at this point.

The fifth year was the hardest for Jack. Surgeries and prescription drugs used throughout the years did nothing to prepare him for what Gabe had finally come to. 

Jack never complained to anyone about helping out Gabe. He never thought for a second about leaving. He gladly helped Gabe eat, shower, and sleep. When Gabe's tremors got too bad, Jack would hold him close and stroke his hair until he went to sleep. 

It was nearing July 4th and Jack woke up early to make breakfast. He was excited to take Gabe to his friend Jesse's house for a firework show he was putting on. Jesse always went all out with fireworks. Jack planned on taking Gabe and recording it so Gabe could always watch it again when he forgot about it. It was always awful for Gabe to forget something important in his life, but Jack loved the spark in his husband's eyes whenever he showed something "new" to him. 

However, Jack was worried because Gabe had come down with a bad cough. He had a doctor's appointment set up for tomorrow and was hoping Gabe would last until then.

They arrived at Jesse's at six and the fireworks started at ten when the sky was near pitch black. Jack sat next to Gabe in a folding chair, idly holding Gabe's hand and dragging his thumb over the male's darker knuckles.

Jack could hear Gabe stifling his coughs as the fireworks display went on and could hear Gabe's occasionally gasps, but soon...he didn't. Jack noticed no sound had come from Gabe in a while and discretely looked at his eyes, mouth, and chest to check for breathing. Jack held his gaze on Gabe's chest for a solid minute and nothing.

Jack didn't want to disrupt anyone and quietly got up and went over to Jesse. Jack tapped his shoulder and pulled him aside from everyone. "I-I think Gabe..." Jack bit his lip. He was still in denial. Gabe wasn't dead. There was no way.

"What happened? Do I need to call nine-one-one?" Jesse looked back over at where Gabe was sitting and then to Jack.

Jack shook his head, feeling suffocated, "I-I don't know. He...he stopped br-breathing." He covered his face with his hands.

"Go sit back down and I'll call for a bus. See if he has a pulse."

***

Gabriel Reyes passed on July 4th, 2073, at the age 54, approximately 10:20 P.M.. His cause of death was determined to be aspiration pneumonia, a lung infection that develops after inhaling food or liquid into one's lungs. The cause of the ASP was from complications with swallowing from Parkinson's Disease. His spouse Jack Reyes has already claimed life insurance to pay for a casket and funeral. Reyes will receive a military salute by his former comrades. His body will be cremated and will be kept with his spouse. 

Jack visited one of Gabe's favorite places in America a year after his death: Niagara Falls. He filled a small vial with Gabe's ashes, discretely  spreading them at the tourist attraction. Throughout the remaining years of his life, Jack would spread little pieces of Gabe at his favorite places. In the last year of his life, Jack was left with one vial that he had put onto a necklace chain. 

Jack Reyes passed in his sleep on July 4th, 2093, at the age 73, approximately 11:50 P.M.. His cause of death was determined to be from old age with some aid from permanent injuries from his military days. He passed twenty years later than his husband, Gabe Reyes. Jack's military friend Angela Ziegler claimed his life insurance and was able to pay for the expenses of a casket and funeral. Reyes will receive a military salute by former comrades. He will be cremated and kept with the remaining ashes of his spouse, Gabriel Reyes.

Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions for future onshots. Also, if I need to explain my triggers better, please voice your concerns in the comments. The last thing I'd like to do is make a reader uncomfortable. 

Happy Fourth of July (if you're into that),
_Carnifex_